Transportation

Welcome to yet another edition of "should this have been a ticket" featuring, you guessed it, yours truly.

So the other day I was driving in Downtown D.C. and I needed to drop something off at a building in Foggy Bottom.

There were plenty of parking spaces available and I pulled in a little less than a block away from the building.

I didn't have any coins and contemplated going to a CVS to pick some up. I decided against that, though, after thinking there was no possible way a parking enforcement officer would find my car at an expired meter during the few minutes I was inside.

I went inside, dropped off my item, and came back outside in a span of no more than five minutes.

Then, to my amazement, I saw a parking officer down the block walking around my car and checking out the meter.

I start to sprint like a mad man, calling to the potential ticket writer.

You are in a hurry to get somewhere in Downtown D.C.. After looking all over to find one, you finally discover an open parking spot, and when you go to put coins in the meter, the meter is broken.

You could follow the directions that the traffic operators have provided on the meter. You know, that three-step process of dialing a phone number, reporting that the meter is broken, and then writing down a confirmation code to provide in case a ticket is given while you're gone.

But instead, you decide to skip the process because it would further delay you from getting where you need to go.

When you return, BAM: parking ticket.

Now you have no confirmation code to contest the ticket with, and you look like an idiot for not following the easy steps laid out for you.